Seminar Series

Upcoming Seminars

Where: Pinn Hall 1-17 Hosted by Thurl Harris, PhD, Heather Ferris is a 2006 UVA alumni, who joined the UVA faculty on May 1st as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology. She comes to UVA from the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, one of the leading centers for diabetes treatment in the country. Dr. Ferris's research focuses on the effects of diabetes on the brain.

Where: Pinn 1-17 Hosted by Bimal Desai, Dr. Yu Shim Kim is an Assistant Professor, Neuroscience, Cell Biology, & Anatomy, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas
About the Speaker:
Education and Training
PhD in Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Post-Doctoral in Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; MS in Biochemistry, Kangwon National University in South Korea; BS in Biochemistry, Kangwon National University in South Korea
Research Interests
Somatosensory Research:
My research focuses on the function and regulation of sensory modalities including pain, itch, and gentle touch. Special objectives in my research are to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of pain by studying neural circuit activities evoked by pain in basal and disease conditions. Using cell culture models, spinal cord, brain slices, and live animals, coupled with cell biological, biochemical, and electrophysiological techniques and, multi-photon confocal imaging, I am seeking to understand cellular and molecular mechanisms that mediate biological functions, especially for pain, itch and touch.

Where: Pinn 5023 Hosted by Spring 2018 Pharm 9003 Class, Beth Sharlow, PhD and John Lazo, Phd
Carrie Jones, PhD, is an Assistant Professor, Pharmacology and Director of BCarrie Jones received her B.S. in Biology from Indiana University and further completed her Ph.D. from the Indiana University School of Medicine. While obtaining her Ph.D., she began her work in the Neuroscience division of pharmacology at Lily Research Laboratories, starting in 2001 on her first Postdoctoral Research Fellowship there. In 2005, Dr. Jones embarked on further postdoctoral studies within Vanderbilt University's Department of Pharmacology.
Dr. Jones joined the Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery in 2005, and now serves as the Director of Behavioral Pharmacology and is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology. Her In Vivo Pharmacology team is dedicated to utilizing translational approaches, including assessment of changes in behavior, neurochemistry and imaging endpoints such as PET and functional MRI, to explore the underlying mechanisms of novel ligands targeting different G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) and transporters within the CNS and the implications of these effects on different disease states, most notably schizophrenia.
ehavioral Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University

Where: Pinn 1-17 Hosted by Bimal Desai
Valentin Cracan is an Assistant in Molecular Biology, Mootha Lab, Molecular Biology
Simches Research Center Boston, MA
Mootha Lab Research focuses on mitochondria, often referred to as the powerhouse of the cell. These organelles are found in virtually all of our body's cells and are responsible for generating the bulk of cellular ATP.

Where: Pinn Hall 1-17 Hosted by Adi Narahari/Pharm Students
Research Description
The Foskett lab is interested, most generally, in membrane transport and cell signaling. The techniques we employ in the lab span the spectrum from biophysical to molecular. Biochemical and molecular tools are used within the context of physiological measurement, with the goal to understand how molecular behavior results in complex cell physiological processes in normal and disease states. We employ electrophysiology, including single ion channel patch clamping and two-electrode voltage clamping; digital low light-level fluorescence imaging microscopy of single living cells; micro-injection; yeast 2-hybrid system to examine and discover protein interactions; recombinant protein expression; molecular biology; and biochemistry.

Where: TBD Hosted by Julius Zhu, Neurosciences Graduate Program and Pharmacology, Yiyang Gong is an Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Duke University
Research Interests:
Recording and understanding brain activity by developing novel combinations of optical microscopy and genetically encoded sensors. Using these technologies to dissect neural circuit function and investigate how neural activity drives complex behaviors.
Lab focus:
Understanding brain function using the combination of genetically encoded sensors and optical techniques. Using genetically encoded tools, we can target specific neuron types or specific projection pathways for recording or perturbation. Using optical microscopy, we can access individual neurons with high spatial and temporal accuracy. By employing and developing tools in both categories, we study brain circuitry by recording, perturbing, and controlling brain activity in various preparations.

Where: Pinn Hall 1-17 Hosted by Julius Zhu; Co-Sponsored by the Brain Institute, Josh Huang, PhD, is a Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
About Huang's Lab:
Cellular basis of neocortex circuit architecture
Our goal is to understand the cellular basis of fundamental aspects of neural circuit architecture in the neocortex that process information and guide intelligent behavior.
Our overarching hypothesis is that the basic inter-areal and inter-hemisphere cortical processing networks and cortical output channels are mediated by a large set of distinct glutamatergic pyramidal neuron types, and local circuit modules that shape functional neural ensembles are regulated by a diverse set of GABAergic interneuron types.
We use state-of-the-art genetic and viral approaches to systematically discover and target cortical cell types. This provides the intellectual and technical starting point to explore cortical circuits by leveraging and integrating a full range of modern technologies.
As the basic cortical circuit architecture is built through developmental genetic programs, we complement and synergize our studies of the assembly and functional organization of cortical circuits by integrating molecular, developmental genetic, anatomical, physiological approaches.
Recently, we began to integrate our studies in the context of the assembly and function of motor cortex circuits that control volitional forelimb movements.

Where: Pinn 5023 Hosted by John Lazo, Beth Sharlow and the Pharm 9004 Spring 2018 Class
Bruce A. Littlefield, Ph.D., is a Distinguished Scientist and Head of Translational MedicineGlobal Oncology, Eisai Inc.
Dr. Littlefield holds the dual positions of Distinguished Scientist and Head, Translational Medicine in the Global Oncology group at Eisai, a global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Tokyo. A biochemist by training, Dr. Littlefield first joined Eisai in 1990 and since that time has overseen numerous natural product-based oncology drug discovery programs. One such program, initiated at Eisai by Dr. Littlefield in 1992 together with Professor Yoshito Kishi of Harvard, was based on the marine sponge natural product halichondrin B. This program led to development of eribulin (Halaven ® ), currently approved in over 60 countries for treatment of certain patients with advanced breast cancer, with additional approvals for advanced liposarcoma or soft tissue sarcoma in many other countries. Dr. Littlefield has published widely in the cancer research and drug development areas, holds numerous drug-related patents, and is a frequent lecturer at universities, medical centers and scientific conferences in the US and abroad. In addition to
working at Eisai, Dr. Littlefield has held faculty positions at both Yale and Harvard...